Group eyes transit district buses for emergencies

Transa working to build reserve fleet

SAN ANGELO, Texas - New buses for the Concho Valley Transit District can start to build a reserve fleet for emergency situations.

"Supposedly they had one," said Major Hofheins, Transa operations manager. "I just came in August, and when I started looking at what they called a contingency fleet, none of them were running."

Hofheins spoke at the monthly meeting of the Local Emergency Planning Committee, which was established to uphold the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. The group comprises law enforcement, emergency management and school officials, business representatives and civic volunteers.

Bea Ramsey, assistant emergency preparedness coordinator for the Concho Valley Council of Governments, said she invited Hofheins to the meeting, then asked him to give a presentation about the transit district and how those buses could be used during a disaster situation.

"They ought to at least know what we have in case they have an emergency," Hofheins said. "Just in case they need something."

Ramsey said emergencies could include a mass casualty, apartment fire or an instance in which a rural nursing home had to be evacuated.

"We can use them in all kids of instances," she said, including times when officials need to remain inconspicuous.

One example she gave was when the state moved hundreds of women and children from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' YFZ Ranch in Schleicher County after a law enforcement raid there in April 2008.

Hofheins spoke briefly at Thursday's meeting about how many buses are available and their capacity.

The district recently purchased 14 small buses for rural counties and has ordered five new buses for the city, Hofheins said. About six of the older buses will be kept in Tom Green County as a contingency fleet.

Currently the transit district has 65 buses running, including some in San Angelo, the Concho Valley and Mason County.

The 14 rural buses were paid for with a $760,000 grant, he said, 20 percent of which was local funds. The five urban buses that were ordered, but have not arrived, were purchased with a $840,000 grant. Both allocations came from the Federal Transit Administration.

The district has applied a $679,370 grant to buy two more city buses and four small buses for Tom Green County, he said. An application for $42,877 was also submitted. It would go toward maintenance for other counties in the Concho Valley.